10.21.2009

Dear Alicia

I used to really like you Alicia. Even though I foolishly missed out on the experience of your first album, Songs in A Minor, I have all your music from that point on. I appreciated your confidence to venture into the unknown with your music. You weren't like other singers, you had dignity, integrity and it showed in your music. You've sold millions of albums and won tons of awards with your somtimes alternative, sometimes neo-soul genre of music. I know a lot of your songs by heart, Alicia. You were a black woman that I could be proud of. As I watched you grow up musically, personally, and even fashionably; (remember those frontward braids?), I also watched you accept many awards for being the humanitarian that you were supposed to be. I said to myself, "Alicia is beautiful, inside and out." I said, "she actually cares, she knows what matters." The Alicia Keys that I admired would never be caught up in silly drama, or sing songs that could be damaging to a girl's self esteem, this Alicia was humble and educated. This Alicia was self-less and stood worlds above the people that make it harder to live in this world, you were a person that made it easy to listen to your music and not have to say "I like the music but not the person singing it". I stood up for you when other people talked shit about you. I remember when you first burst onto the music scence, it took me a minute to warm up to you but I enjoyed your braids, doo rag and jeans. You wrote your own songs and played the piano! You seemed down to earth, like a homegirl. You were a breath of fresh air from those of us tired from the same gyrating, skin baring singers we had been used to seeing. Your voice was powerful and filled with whatever emotion conveyed in the song. Your lyrics were about empowerment and staying true to yourself. I thought you were real Alicia.

Now, Alicia I find myself hating you more and more everyday. I can't see how someone who sang about Karma is now making bad karma for herself. You should have been the expert on the subject, this mistake that you have made, is a little girl's slip-up and Alicia you're supposed to be a woman. I will never understand how someone who gave all womyn everywhere hope and pride with a song like "Superwoman" can show us that someone who prided herself on being a role model can shatter images of what I good woman looks like for little girls who have no one else to look up to. I am still trying to wrap my mind around how you can help AIDS victims but yet help a man break a woman's heart. Alicia, how can you attribute to the misfortunate experience of breaking up someone's family? How can you leave a child with a broken home? And worst of all how can you show so little empahty or care about your actions and how they affect your fans and the people around you? Don't get me wrong Ms. Keys, I understand that when you're in the public eye you have to keep a persona that can sometimes be limiting. And of course, we all make mistakes. And maybe we all thought you were above making mistakes. But would it have been too much to think that you were above this? I tried to deny it at first. "Not Alicia", I said. Then I came to believe it after I saw pictures and tweets. I had put you on a pedastel that eventually proved to be too much for you to handle. I know your entitled to your privacy, but as someone who proved to a role model for millions, how can you so easily close the door on those who looked up to? I don't deny that you might be dealing with this sliently, but it sure doesn't look like it when I see pictures of you and Mr. Beats plastered on blogs, having a gay ol' time together. I also know it takes two to tango and I will even argue that Mr. Beats is more at faults than you are. He was the one in a relationship, not you. Maybe their marriage was already over, he just needed that extra push. But Alicia, why did you have to be that push? You seem to believe that you are above being the victim of a cheater's actions. Please know, that what goes around comes around, what goes up will come down, if he did it to her, its more than likely he will do it you too. I cannot tell you who to be involved with, Alicia, I just hoped that such an esteemed woman would make better, wiser choices for herself. Don't you know what you're worth Alicia? Did you sing about A Woman's Worth, but didn't have the self-esteem to know yours? I know how powerful love can be, how no matter how many times you leave, love just won't let you. I know, but please Alicia, try, try.

9 comments:

Before you make a fool of yourself and send ALICIA KEYS this letter, you should get your facts straight. The truth WILL come out. Mashonda has been in a RELATIONSHIP with a man for just as long as Swizz and Alicia have been together. She is far from single too. Yes I said it...Mashonda has a husband AND a boyfriend too. Why do you think that she isn't pissed at Swizz? Her deal is with Alicia. It's been with Alicia since she the days that they were signed together. She's always felt that Alicia was spoiled and pretty much got whatever it is she wanted.

Swizz will not speak on the matter, but just drop him an email or tweet and ask him if Mashonda's been the "faithful wife" who's grief stricken because her man chose another. His reply should be, "she has moved on A LONG TIME AGO"...

Swizz commented very early in the year and said that he and his wife had been separated for 8-9 months. Why didn't she send him a public message then? Why wait until Alicia sends a random tweet about her love life to attempt to tarnish her image?

WWW.MTV.COM/NEWS/ARTICLES/1589419/20080616/SWIZZ_BEATS.JHTML

We all need to concern ourselves with our mess, because some people are very naive and are quick to believe anything a woman with no career will say to gain a sympathetic audience. All of a sudden, Mashonda has book dealSSS, reality show offerSSS and countless other things. Hmmm...come on people!

To put so much trust and hope into one human being is asking for disappointment. She's not perfect nor is she a super hero. She's just a music artist that we never knew and still don't. No One knows these celeberties Her work raising money for children in Africa should not be dismissed, that's ridiculous. Tell all those children that Alicia shouldn't help them out, or leave them to die because she made a mistake would be cruel. To take away all the good that this woman has done because of one thing would be cruel of us. Also, Swizz and Alicia now have no reason to hide, he's not with his wife anymore, haven't been for 2 years. What's the point of not being together? To say she doesn't care about others and all would mean you would have had to experience both sides..I don't know her heart, and I won't name her as a bad person. I'll just name her as a human being that isn't perfect. Don't judge, just because one person is talking, doesn't mean it's the true story. It's more than what happened. Alicia, you still have fans that support you for your music..i'm anticipating her new album in which I will buy and I support her in her charity work. god forgives us for our daily judging, lying, and other sins...I have forgiven Alicia..

@Anonymous: sweetie, i NEVER make a fool of myself. and if it was that easy to send alicia this letter, i would have BEEN done it. if what you say is true, then mashonda is just as wrong as swizz, but still, that does not excuse the actions of alicia. out of respect for the MARRIAGE, wait until the divorce is final gotdammit!

@evade: having trust and hope in one person does not always result in dissapointment. of course her work in africa should not be discounted but it shows that he cares more about those that are faced with disease than other's personal feelings. at the end of the day, you wait until, a divorce is final to begin a relationship. there is a difference between judging a person and being real. i am being real, judging her, would be condemning her to be a slave for the rest of her life, i don't have the power to do that, but karma will find her, if need be. but how can you forgive someone who hasn't even attoned for their sins?

African American women baffle me. They hate on each other MORE than any other race/ethnic or culture. I can't understand it for the life of me. They use religion to make their points when arguing their views but when you look into their own lives, the skeletons are packed in their closets. The Latinos are known for sticking up for each other because we mind our own business at home but help each other out whenever someone needs our help.When Jennifer Lopez started dated a very married Marc Anthony. The gossip blobs and shows had a field day. The American blogs called her a modern day Elizabeth Taylor. The Urban blogs called her a "home-wrecker"(of course) and the Latin shows and blogs mentioned that they had seen a relationship forming since they had both worked on their video "No Me Ames". It was rumored that they had always kept a private relationship. We Puerto Ricans, don't give two craps about Jen's or Marc's private life. We either love and appreciate their God given talents or we don't. Marc's wife was also, almost due to give birth to ther second son, but no one made a huge deal because he has always been a good father. His wife did a few interviews saying that she was caught off guard but if that is who his heart told him to with, then she respected that. She has since moved on and is very happy.

Jen and Marc have never felt the need to hide because they knew that the latin community would not bash them for decisions made about their own life.

Mary J. Blige was another woman who fell in love with a married man. The reason why people don't bash her is because we didn't get a pathetic wife crying everyone a river.

Black women need to learn how to keep their men happy so that they won't keep losing them to bi-racial, Hispanic or white women.

You all hate on each other and that is very sad. Why don't you all stop putting people on a pedestal like Alicia Keys and try looking up to your own family members? It's a damn shame how grown ass women are looking for role models. "Alicia Keys, you disappointed me." Who the hell are you anyway...someone who will either buy her record or not? Don't buy it and just move on with your life. But to tell her that you expect a response is bizarre!!

Now go on and write an entire blog on how much black women love each other. It will surely make for a good laugh. SMDH

Im happy that the last person who responded decided to keep themselves anonymous. It saves them from embarrassment because that entire "argument" was a FAIL.

First and foremost, what the fuck kind of trip were you on ? Nothing, and i mean NOTHING that you wrote made any type of sense nor was it in relation to anything that was stated within this blog.

Honestly, your stupidity baffles me. I think i know which route you were trying to take with the whole Jen and Marc example but it was executed poorly. Besides the fact that you have shown everyone that you cannot make a coherent argument, you also made yourself look like a prejudice idiot.

[quote]Black women need to learn how to keep their men happy so that they won't keep losing them to bi-racial, Hispanic or white women.[/quote]

what relevance does this have ? If the woman was mixed, purple, green, or orange why would it matter ? And who are you to generalize a group of people ?

[quote]Why don't you all stop putting people on a pedestal like Alicia Keys and try looking up to your own family members? It's a damn shame how grown ass women are looking for role models.[/quote]

How do you know that she doesnt look up to one of her family members ? Everyone needs a role model in their life regardless of age. Obviously you didnt have a role model in your life to teach you how not to be so ignorant.

And lastly, how dare you try to belittle black women based upon your stupid ass opinions and judgments. You are a fucking fool if you dont believe or acknowledge that hatred or conflict can exist in any culture. Hate is hate and there is no measurement for it ! To say that "black women hate on each other more than any other race" makes you look completely ignorant!

Stop penning under the name anonymous. It's ridiculous that you feel the need to hide inorder to express yourself.

First and foremost, You do not have the right to speak on Black Womyn's issues, if you do not truly know and understand the Black Feminae experience. Do not make generalizations about any populations or anything for that matter. Secondly, your statement "African American women baffle me. They hate on each other MORE than any other race/ethnic or culture," is very faulty and inappropriate because not all black womyn hate on each other and you cannot compare black womyn to womyn from other Ethnic groups.

Envy, Hate, and jealous are not racial characteristics, but instead they are human traits. We need to stop looking at things from a racial/gender/sexual orientation/sexuality perspectives and instead see it from a human perspective. Human beings are capable of anything. How would you feel if I claimed that, "All Latina/Hispanic Womyn are extremely fertile, they(latino/latinas) take all of the resources from the other groups (i.e. government programs), they take all of the jobs, they're dirty, and they're only good for jobs of servitude(i.e. maids, janitors, gardeners). That would be wrong, right, yes it would and I would not be ignorant and try to generalize all Latinas/Latinos nor would I try to apply those stereotypical images in which I have listed above.

I'm guessing you're not aware of the many negative images of black womyn that exist in the media, which are role models for young womyn. Age does not matter, people always need images to look towards inorder to progress in life. No one has ever became successful by themselves, its impossible. So there is nothing wrong with "Grown womyn" needing role models, people break down and need others to be an inspiration.

And lastly, you should not try to give Black Womyn advice on "How to keep their Black men" thats very irrelevant. Who cares about Black men engaging in inter-ethnic dating, that is their business. Obviously you suffer from horizontal hostility, and you suffer the psychological affects of racism, sexism, capitalism and colonialism. If you do not know how those items effect you, then I suggest you do your research.

If you would like to discuss my response then email me: laydeejai3007@yahoo.com

Why you gotta be Anoynomous? (Bobby V. Voice) Lol.Who the heck are you loser? and Damnnn Jayme & Jasmine got in that ass. What a fucking lame! like why are you lurking on her blog writing ignorant shit and having the nerve to remain a no name. You must be a groupie!

Side Note

...while enjoying this blog, you might encounter subject material that you don't agree with and/or find offensive or triggering, while I will do my best to censor material that needs to be censored, I do not believe it over zealous censorship, however remember what may be offensive to you, may be liberating to another person, please respect those views. If you do find something offensive please comment on it and tell me why, so that we may spark a conversation about your opinions, instead of just shutting down the medium, I will take all and any view points into consideration, unless they are of blantant ignorance, which is why ALL comments are moderated ALL the time. Also, readers should be aware that while I may post material that is important to this blog, that does not mean that I necessarily agree whole-heartedly with those viewpoints. Questionss?? Just ask.